...fuzzy machinery, lethal injections and undisciplined torturers of mayhem. Like newborn kittens' first meow. Like running water in a small stream. A gold fish's thoughts. Steam from an old train's engine. The steel look from a stranger. Like the clumsy fumbling behind the bushes. Like acid rain melting faces in a not too distant future. The discreet peep through the curtains. The roaring airplane flying nose down in for landing just above you. The silly walk of the prime minister. Like a 2.8GHz quad-core at 100% CPU usage. Like a blend of samba, alcohol and sweaty, brownskinned bodies. Like the silence in the cathedral, or the sleeping toddler in a cool room. Like the first piercing tones of 'Echoes'. The depressing, empty rooms that greet you. Like a crowd of crows at the murder scene.
Like you and me, and the rest of the fools.
Get back to radio
As a little boy I used to record the noises, whistling and static in the space between the stations on my old radio/casette recorder. Sometimes an out of focus voice would speak something in German (I still remember a woman saying Was ist mit dem Zeit?1, a question I still ponder to this day). By repeatedly pressing the pause button during the recording, I was able to create, in my view, interesting sound experiments, which combined chance, noise and improv, creating right out weird "music". Although my equipment and skills have, slowly but surely, become more sophisticated with time, I am still basically the same little boy, experimenting with sound and constantly asking "what if...?" and "could it be that...?".
When I was in my early teens I decided to learn how to play the guitar. Why? To get girls! Of course, it didn't work, but at least I learned how to play. Since my taste in music ran to... shall we say "the exotic" (pinpoint the reference for extra bonus), it was a bit difficult to find good musicians to play with. The kind of music that was "the shit" where I grew up was mainly death trash, synth music and stupid pop-punk. Nothing of interest there; move on. But I finally managed to persuade some classmates to go along with my perverted wishes (well, not in THAT way) and play some of the music I dreamed up. Our technical skills were really not matching the ambition or the imagination, but a few nice things came out of it; some recordings made in a studio where we rehearsed and a gig in the music competition at our school (yes, we did end up last, save for the teachers' contribution).
At the end of the 90's, probably around 1998, during a short stint as an intern at a music studio, I discovered the magic of hard disk sound recording and editing. By using the studio's equipment, which I did obsessively, I started to create music mainly consisting of samples taken from their vast cd library. When they finally threw me out, I decided to get my own digital audio editing system. After securing a job as a computer consultant I bought an E-MU APS soundcard and pirated a copy of Cakewalk to use with it. Finally, I was in audio editing heaven. Since then I've moved to free software (Ardour, Jack) and a more modern sound card (Terratec Phase X24). The music I create conforms strictly to the old Frank Zappa creed: AAAFNRAA2
Still, all experiments aside, I do have a few soft spots for more normal music. There's nothing wrong with pop, hip hop, rock or whatyagot... a good song is a good song. I like to do 4/4 catchy tunes as well. Let's all come together and enjoy all kinds of music and non-music; celebrate each others' breadth and differences, and stop racism, feed the hungry, clothe the poor and heal the sick. Just do not raise my taxes.
Marginalitey in the Fediverse (Mastodon)
1) Yes, it is not grammatically correct, but that is what I remember I heard.
2) Anything, anytime, anywhere, for no reason at all